Serenity's Challenge
by chilled monkey
Summary: When a happy reunion goes badly wrong and her brother's life is put on the line Serenity must Duel to save him.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the anime/manga series "Yu-Gi-Oh." This story is strictly a work of fanfiction and no profit is being made from it.

Serenity Wheeler laughed happily as her brother Joey finished describing Tristan and Duke's latest mishap to her over the telephone.

"It sounds like you've all been having fun" she said.

"Yeah things have been pretty good lately" Joey replied from the other end of the line. "Ya know, no crazy guys trying to take over the world, no disembodied minds trying to trap us in a virtual world and steal our bodies."

He was currently in a park sitting on a bench and leaning back contentedly as he spoke into a mobile phone. All around him there were people of all ages, some playing Duel Monsters, others just out enjoying the weather.

"By the way Joey, are our plans for the weekend still on?" Serenity asked.

"You bet. This time Saturday we'll be feeling the same sea breeze we felt when we were kids." He remembered when he and his sister played on the beach as children and he smiled as a feeling of nostalgia came over him.

"Okay Joey, I'll see you then."

"I'll see you too Sis. Bye for now."

"Bye."

Serenity hung up the phone and smiled as she thought about the surprise she had planned for her brother. She glanced at the duel disk and card deck lying on a table in front of her. _I can't wait for Joey to see how much better I've gotten at duelling_ she thought. _Of course I'm no-where near as good as him or Yugi but I think he'll be impressed._

She picked up the deck she had constructed and began idly sorting through the cards.

Back in the park Joey also hung up. He got up from the bench and casually strolled away. As he did so he was completely unaware of the figure sitting on another bench nearby. The figure lowered the newspaper he had been pretending to read and watched him go.

"The beach on Saturday huh" he mused. "Perfect. I'll see you there Wheeler."

Joey grinned as he stood on the white sandy surface and stared out at the vast ocean stretching away across the horizon as far as the eye could see. Even now he could clearly remember making a sandcastle with Serenity.

He was so caught up in reminiscing that he failed to notice that someone was sneakily creeping up behind him, a blackjack held in one hand.

"It'll be great to see my sister again" Joey said aloud. As much as he loved all of his friends it would be nice to spend some time with just Serenity like they had as children. He glanced at his watch. "Hey I hope she's okay. She's a little late."

The stranger sprang forwards and swung the blackjack, hitting him in the head. Joey dropped to the sand and groaned dully as his assailant took out a roll of tape and began binding his hands together.

Serenity got off the bus and inhaled deeply, enjoying the sea air. _I hope Joey hasn't been waiting too long_ she thought as she walked towards the beach.

"Hello" she called. "Joey, are you there?"

There was no reply. A feeling of worry began to form and she adjusted the strap of her bag nervously. Joey should be there by now.

She jogged further up the beach until she spotted something odd. There in the sand was a line formed by something being dragged. Curious she followed the line across the white dunes.

Serenity wasn't sure what she anticipated finding but what she came across was not it. In front of her was Joey, bound, gagged and being dragged across the sand by a young man with black hair. He wore a purple cap and a green jacket. On his wrist was a duel disk.

"Stop!" she cried.

He let go of Joey and turned to glare at her. She was afraid but managed to keep her voice level as she said "let him go."

"No chance" he replied with a sneer. "My name's Zeke Lloyd and I'm going to make this guy pay for what he did to my cousin."

"What do you mean?" she asked

"My cousin is Rex Raptor. He was a Duel Monsters champion, the most famous in the country. Wheeler ruined him. He became a joke after he lost to some rookie duellist. My cousin's reputation was destroyed and it's all Wheeler's fault!"

"But Joey didn't do anything wrong" she protested. "He duelled fairly and he won fairly."

"I don't care!" Zeke yelled. "I'll make him pay for making Rex into a laughing stock!"

"Wait!" Serenity cried.

At that point Joey stirred. His eyes bulged as he caught sight of her and he started making muffled noises and flicking his head. He thought, _Serenity, get away! Run!_

She had to force herself to stay focused on Zeke. "I challenge you to a duel! If I win you let my brother go."

He grinned cruelly. "And if I win, I'll get you too."

Joey shook his head frantically while uttering muffled yells. It took considerable effort for Serenity to not look at him as she said "deal."

She took a duel disk out of her bag and put it on her arm. Both of them slotted their decks into place and activated the disks, the two segments of the arm blade unfolding and locking into place.

"Let's duel!"

_Hold on Joey_ she thought. _I won't let you down; especially after everything you've done for me._


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: All of my knowledge of Duel Monsters comes from the anime and from what I've read on Yugioh wiki. If I've made any foul-ups then I apologise.

"Let's duel!"

_Hold on Joey_ she thought. _I won't let you down; especially after everything you've done for me._

"I'll go first" said Zeke smugly. "I summon Crawling Dragon 2 in attack mode."

A black-scaled, wingless dragon with huge teeth materialised on the field.

"Next I'll lay one card face down. Your move."

Serenity took a deep breath and then drew a card. "I lay one monster face-down."

A horizontal face-down card appeared on the field in front of her.

"That ends my turn."

Zeke sneered. "You think that face-down means you're safe from attack? Well think again. Here's something I learned from a friend of Rex. I summon Leghul in attack mode."

The worm-like monster with large mandibles appeared next to Crawling Dragon 2.

Zeke added, "And I'll equip it with Laser Cannon Armour." A huge laser cannon appeared on the worm monster's back as he played the card.

"What's great about this monster is that it can attack your Life Points directly. Leghul attack!"

Leghul reared up and shot a yellow laser beam right at her!

"Not so fast!" Serenity called. "I reveal my face-down card, Princess of Tsurugi!"

She winced as the beam hit her but at the same time her card flipped over and Princess of Tsurugi, a blonde woman holding eight crystal spikes between her fingers, materialised.

Serenity smiled as she said "her flip effect means you lose 500 Life Points for every Spell or Trap card you have on the field"

Zeke scowled as his life points decreased.

**Serenity**: 3400 Life Points. **Zeke**: 3000 Life Points

Joey grinned behind his gag. _Nice move Sis._

"Now it's my move" she said confidently. "I summon Red Archery Girl in attack mode."

A bow-wielding mermaid inside a shell appeared on the field.

"Red Archery Girl, attack his Leghul!"

The mermaid aimed her bow and fired an arrow at the worm creature. Leghul shattered as the arrow hit.

**Zeke**: 2200 Life Points.

But just before the arrow hit, he yelled, "Activate Trap card Fearful Earthbound!"

The card flipped up and he grinned fiercely. "Every time your monsters attack you lose 500 Life Points."

**Serenity**: 2900 Life Points.

She frowned. _This is bad. I can't attack without losing Life Points myself and I don't have anything to get rid of that Trap card. But maybe there's another way besides frontal attack._

"I'll place one card face-down and end my turn."

Zeke's grin broadened. "I tribute Crawling Dragon 2 to summon Twin-Headed Fire Dragon."

The wingless black dragon vanished, replaced by a red dragon-like creature with two horned heads, wings and a single deformed tendril that ended in a three toed claw.

"Twin-Headed Fire Dragon, destroy Princess of Tsurugi!"

The monster roared as it breathed out dual streams of fire. Caught in the blaze Princess of Tsurugi shattered into pieces.

**Serenity**: 1600 Life Points.

She winced again and Joey stared at her in alarm.

_Hold on sis, I know you can win this!_

As if hearing his thoughts Serenity straightened up. "Don't worry Joey" she said firmly. "I promise I'll get you out of this."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note**: Thank you very much to everyone who reviewed and/or favourited this fic. I'm very glad you liked it.

I apologise if the ending seems rushed. I hope that you still enjoy it.

**Part 3**

As if hearing his thoughts Serenity straightened up. "Don't worry Joey" she said firmly. "I promise I'll get you out of this."

She faced Zeke with a determined look. "I reveal my Trap card, Bad Reaction to Simochi."

The holographic card flipped to face-up position.

"Now I'll play the spell card Rain of Mercy. Normally this would give both of us 1000 life points, but as long as Bad Reaction to Simochi is face-up any effect that would increase your life points instead decreases them."

As hologram rain fell down on them Zeke gritted his teeth in anger.

**Serenity**: 2600 Life Points. **Zeke**: 1200 Life Points.

She went on. "Next I'll tribute Red Archery Girl to summon Gyakutenno Megami in defence mode."

Red Archery Girl vanished, replaced by a fairy-like monster that was crouched in defence.

"And I'll equip her with Horn of Light to give her 800 extra defence points. Finally I place one card face-down. That ends my turn."

"No more Mr. Nice Guy" Zeke sneered. "First I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy that Bad Reaction to Simochi."

A howling whirlwind sped across the field, enveloped the Trap Card hologram and shattered it into fragments.

"And now that that's out of the way I play Enemy Controller to switch Gyakutenno Megami to attack mode."

As the fairy monster stood he exclaimed, "Twin-Headed Fire Dragon, attack!"

Again two blasts of fire shot forth. The fairy monster disintegrated just as Princess of Tsurugi had.

**Serenity**: 2200 Life Points.

"I'm done for now" he said.

Serenity stared back defiantly. "I won't let you hurt Joey! I play Polymerisation, fusing together Marie the Fallen One and Goddess with the Third Eye to summon St. Joan!"

A short-haired woman wearing gleaming armour and armed with a longsword appeared in a burst of light.

"And I reveal my trap card Deal of Phantom. With this St. Joan gets an extra 100 attack points this turn for every monster in my Graveyard!"

He stammered, "M, my Trap card is still…"

"I know, but this'll hurt you a lot more than it does me!" Serenity replied cheerily.

A yellow glow surrounded the warrior woman as her ATK jumped to 3300. Zeke blanched as Serenity called, "St. Joan, attack Twin-Headed Fire Dragon!"

St Joan raised her sword and charged. One strike sliced the pyro monster into two neat halves which then disintegrated.

**Serenity**: 1700 Life Points. **Zeke**: 100 Life Points.

_All right Sis. That'll show him_ Joey thought.

"Now I'll set one card face-down and end my turn" said Serenity.

"I, I'm not beaten yet" said Zeke. He drew a card and smiled. "Ah, this is just what I need. First I'll play Ookazi to knock off 800 of your Life Points."

**Serenity**: 900 Life Points.

"And now I'll play Monster Reborn to bring back Leghul. This time I'll equip it with something a little tougher. Namely Level 2 Power Boost, raising its ATK to 1500!"

The worm monster re-appeared in a flash of light and a pair of turbine engines materialised on its back.

He laughed wickedly. "You lose! Leghul, attack her directly!"

_Serenity!_ Joey screamed silently as the monster sprang forwards.

Just before it bit her she called out, "reveal face-down, Numinous Healer!"

The card flipped to show a winged woman with a nurse's cap just before the attack hit. Joey shut his eyes briefly in relief as he saw that she was still standing.

**Serenity**: 400 Life Points.

"What? How did you survive that?" Zeke yelled.

"When Numinous Healer is activated it increases my Life Points by 1000 whenever they take damage" she explained.

He shrugged. "Go on, finish it"

"Oh I will. But first I'll collect 200 Life Points from Marie the Fallen One in my Graveyard."

**Serenity**: 600 Life Points.

"I haven't forgotten about your Trap card" she said. "But now I can afford to attack. Too bad you can't."

"St. Joan, attack Leghul!"

St Joan charged and sliced Leghul in two. Both halves shattered.

**Serenity**: 100 Life Points. **Zeke**: 0 Life Points.

"I win" she said with a victorious smile.

Zeke fell to his knees as the holograms vanished. Serenity deactivated her duel disk and ran over to Joey.

"Are you okay Joey?" she asked as she released him.

"I'm fine thanks to you" he grinned. "That was some awesome duelling sis."

"Thank you" she said with a smile.

"Let's call the authorities and hand this creep over to them."

Once Zeke had been handed over to the police, Joey and Serenity stood on the beach. For a moment neither spoke, just listened to the sound of the waves against the shore.

"Thanks for saving me Serenity" said Joey. "You were great out there."

"I'm glad I could help" she said warmly. "You've always been there for me big brother. I want you to know that I'm always here for you too."

Smiling happily, Joey hugged her and she returned the hug.

"I know sis, I know."

**Author's Note**: Goddess with the Third Eye's effect allows her to substitute for any fusion-material monster as long as the other one is correct. In this case Serenity used Goddess with the Third Eye to substitute for The Forgiving Maiden.


End file.
